Netflix is preparing for the release of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ a dark twist on conventional superheroes based on the Dark Horse comic books by ‘My Chemical Romance’ frontman Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá. The adaptation was developed by Jeremy Slater, with Steve Blackman acting as showrunner. The project was first announced last summer and now it appears that it has almost been completed. Netflix has announced that the series will be released on February 15, 2019. A new batch of character posters and still photos has also been released.

On the same day in 1989, forty-three infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before. Seven are adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a billionaire industrialist, who creates The Umbrella Academy and prepares his “children” to save the world. But not everything went according to plan. In their teenage years, the family fractured and the team disbanded. Now, the six surviving thirty-something members reunite upon the news of Hargreeves’ passing. Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Vanya and Number Five work together to solve a mystery surrounding their father’s death. But the estranged family once again begins to come apart due to their divergent personalities and abilities, not to mention the imminent threat of a global apocalypse.

Colm Feore (Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’) stars as the enigmatic Sir Reginald Hargreeves, while Adam Godley (‘Lodge 49’) portrays his assistant Pogo. (In the comics, Pogo is a talking chimpanzee.) Mary J. Blige portrays Cha-Cha with Cameron Britton as her partner, Hazel. They are time travelling assassins sent after the Hargreeves children. John Magaro plays Leonard Peabody, a “sweet Average Joe” who engages in a romance with Vanya. Ashley Madekwe and Kate Walsh have recurring parts on the show, as Detective Patch and The Handler respectively.

As for the members of ‘The Umbrella Academy’, they are featured in these great new character posters.

‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Black Sails” Tom Hopper plays #1, Luther, a.k.a. Spaceboy. In the comics, he had the body of a space gorilla. He may also on the show, but if so, he keeps it covered up. He is the team’s leader and harbors romantic feelings for #3, who is technically his adopted sister.

#2 is Diego, The Kraken, the sullen rebel of the family. He will be played by David Castañeda, who was seen earlier this year in ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’. The Kraken can hold his breath indefinitely and secretly acts as a vigilante without his siblings.

Allison, The Rumor, is #3 and can alter reality by lying. She was married to a man named Patrick and had a daughter named Claire, but the couple divorced with Patrick getting full custody of Claire. She is considered a narcissist but harbors romantic feelings for her brother, Luther. Emmy Raver-Lampman portrays Allison. Raver-Lampman was recently featured on the new ABC series ‘A Million Little Things’.

In the comics, #4, Klaus, The Séance, is goth, but it appears that has been tweaked for the show. Here he looks more like a party boy. In the comics, he can communicate with the dead and also has telepathy and telekinesis. He is portrayed by ‘Genius” Robert Sheehan. Sheehan will also be seen in the upcoming film ‘Mortal Engines’.

Due to a time travel mishap, #5, known only as The Boy, is well over 50 but appears to be stuck at the age of ten. His time manipulating power also allows him to make mini-jumps, which resembles teleportation. He also possesses the DNA of the greatest killers in history and is, therefore, the most lethal assassin ever. The Boy is portrayed by Aidan Gallagher, who starred on the Nickelodeon series ‘Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn’, for which he was nominated for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards in 2016.

#6, The Horror, or Ben, is dead. When he was alive, he had interdimensional monsters living under his skin, usually shown as tentacles poking out from his skin.

Oscar nominee Ellen Page (‘Juno’) plays #7, Vanya, who doesn’t appear to have any superpowers, although she is the world’s greatest violinist. But none of her siblings care about that. Page has played a few superheroes in the past, including Kitty Pryde in the ‘X-Men’ movies and sidekick Libby in the dark comedy ‘Super’.

In addition to these posters, check out a few images from the show that reveal some of the other cast members, including Blige and Britton in the last photo:

Once again, ‘The Umbrella Academy’ premiers on Netflix on February 15. Are you a fan of the comics? What do you think of the live action versions?

Jax Motes

Jax's earliest memory is of watching 'Batman,' followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn't run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes.